Destiny Calling
by DreamonAlina
Summary: Merlin travels to Camelot to study magic under the esteemed court physician, but instead ends up as the servant of Prince Prat himself, Arthur Pendragon. Throw in the fact that Merlin is a girl and has magic in a Kingdom where magic is outlawed, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Arthur/OC. Fem!Merlin
1. The Dragon's Call: CAMELOT

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Merlin! I only own my OC Female Merlin, and any other plots I make up along the way!

**Summary: **Merlin travels to Camelot to study magic under the esteemed court physician, but instead ends up as the servant of Prince Prat himself, Arthur Pendragon. Throw in the fact that Merlin is a girl and has magic in a Kingdom where magic is outlawed, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Arthur/OC.

**Author's Note: **I honestly don't know if this is going to pick up, but I SO want to do an Arthur/OC and after reading a really good Fem!Merlin (Bewitched) fanfic, I'm gonna go with this!

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I sighed as I readjusted the strap from my backpack on my back. The road from Ealdor to Camelot had been a long one, and while I was going to miss my mother and my village, I was excited to get to Camelot. My mother, Hunith, had said that Gaius could help me and my magic problem. And it _was_ kind of a problem.

I was getting tired, but all of my energy came back at once when the castle was within my sights. I smiled giddily as I took off into a run, my brown leather boots dragging as I picked up my pace. I tugged my hat back more securely on top of my head, so that my bun didn't fall out of it.

My smile grew as I walked in through the gates of Camelot. Finally! After days of travelling, I had made it.

I was just admiring the hustle and bustle of a busy place when a big commotion going on that drew my attention. Trumpets were played, followed by drums, and a man was being led out by what looked like two Camelot guards.

I pushed past the group of people to get closer to the front. Due to my short stature (which ran in my family) I had to be close to the front to see what was going on.

There was an older looking man standing in the balcony with a crown on top of his head, so naturally I assumed that he was the King. My eyes travelled over to the chopping box directly below the King (whatever his name was) and it didn't take me long to figure out that it was an execution block.

"Let this serve as a lesson to all," the King said. "This man, Thomas James Collins," Uther pointed at the man that the guards had been dragging out before who was now being led up on to the chopping block. "Is judged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic. And pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death."

I gulped, my heart stopping. My eyes slowly travelled down to my hands, that caused accidental magic here and there. What the hell kind of place had my mother sent me to?

"I pride myself as a fair and just king," Uther continued. "But for crimes of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass."

Uther nodded at the guard, who proceeded to put Thomas's head on the chopping block. A masked man with an axe raised it high, but I had to look away as he delivered the blow.

The sickening sound of knife slicing skin invaded my ears and I had to keep myself from throwing up. I looked back over to where Uther was standing, trying to avoid looking at the now dead body.

An old woman let out a cry as she emerged from the crowd. She revealed herself to be Thomas's mother and threatened Uther and his supposed "son". Then, when Uther ordered her seized, she used her magic to create a wave of dust around her as she disappeared into thin air.

_ Okay, that was weird, _I thought to myself as I took a couple steps away from the crowd, which eventually started to dispel. I turned my back on Thomas, feeling guilty about it though. I readjusted my hat once more and took off again, intent on finding Gaius, the man that that my mother had said I was going to stay with.

I gathered all my courage and asked one of the guards where I could find Gaius, who was the court physician. He gruffly pointed in the other direction and I gave him a quick "thank you" as I scurried away from him. I swear, now that I knew what having magic could get done to you, I felt like I had the words "I HAVE MAGIC" written on my forehead and everybody was looking at me.

When I saw the sign that said "court physician" I knew I had made it to the right place. I sighed in relief, blowing my bangs out of my face. I drew myself to my full five feet height, and knocked on Gaius's door.

When there wasn't an answer, I turned the door knob, which was surprisingly unlocked. I pushed the door open and stuck my head in. "Gaius?" I called out tentatively.

I opened the door more and let myself in. I gazed in wonder at all the potions and scientific equipment that Gaius had lying around. I looked around the room and finally spotted an old man standing at the second level in front of a bookshelf.

"Gaius?" I tried and when he turned around, the stair rail that he leaned against for literally two seconds gave away, and he began falling. I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth as I wished for time to slow down. Just as I did, it happened, so I used the situation to my advantage as I used my magic to move the bed that was in the corner to right underneath Gaius so that when time went back to normal, he crashed on top of the soft bed, not the hard ground.

I sighed in relief as I slumped my tense shoulders. _That_ could have gone worse.

Unfortunately, my joy was cut short when Gaius stormed, "What did you just do?!"

"Uh..." I stammered, suddenly remembering Thomas and how he got his head cut off.

"Tell me!" He demanded as he got up from the bed and stormed over to me.

Quick, think of a lie! "Sir, I have no idea what just happened," I lied as I pointed at the bed.

Smooth lie, Merlin. Smooth lie.

Gaius stared at me in disbelief as he continued what seemed to be a lecture. "If anyone had seen that..."

"Seen what? _I_ didn't do anything," I tried again, though I was obviously failing. Well, there went Camelot. Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye, pretty walls of Camelot. Goodbye, Man who I would have eventually married. Hello death.

"I _know_ what it was!" Gaius protested, obviously not seeing through my lie. "I just want to know where you learnt how to do it."

"I didn't learn anything!" I said, almost pleading so the old goon would shut up.

"So how is it you know magic?" Gaius asked, and the words literally stung my ears as I thought back to earlier today.

"That's the thing; I don't," I insisted.

"Where did you study?" Gaius shot again.

"I didn't study!" I said. "I have never taken a lesson or been taught anything."

"Are you lying to me?" Gaius asked as he took one step closer to me.

"What do I have to say to get you to believe me?" I exclaimed.

"The truth!"

"I was born with it!" I finally broke down. I felt like Gaius was about ready to hold my head under water until I spoke the truth. "I was born with magic."

"That's impossible," Gaius dismissed.

"Yeah, well, try telling my body nineteen years ago," I huffed, crossing my arms stubbornly.

"Who are you?" Gaius asked, his tone going lighter as he questioned me.

His tone brought a slight smile on to my face. "I'm Merlin," I introduced.

"Hunith's son?" Gaius exclaimed.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Actually, Hunith's _daughter_," I corrected as I pulled my hat off. My dark brown, wavy hair cascaded down my back as it rested on my back in its natural curls.

"Oh, my apologies, young lady," Gaius said, blushing slightly. "But, you're not meant to be here until Wednesday!"

But...but I thought it _was_ Wednesday? I made sure to check the calendar and everything before I left Ealdor. "Gaius, it _is_ Wednesday," I told the old man.

"Ah," He said with realization.

I smirked as I tugged my backpack off and reached inside to take out something that I was to give to Gaius when I got here. "I have a letter, it's from my mother."

I handed it over to Gaius, who took it from my hands. "You can put your bag in there," Gaius offered, turning around and pointing to the spare room in the very back of the whole area.

I smiled in thanks as I made my way over to the room, but there was something tugging in the back of my head, and I turned to face Gaius once more. "Promise me you won't say anything about..." I gestured to the mess that I'd be sure to help him clean up later.

"Yes, I won't say anything," Gaius promised and I could have cried with relief. I turned around to go into the room again, but Gaius's voice stopped me. "Although, Merlin. I should say 'thank you'."

I gave him a polite smile back. "Don't worry, I do this kind of thing all the time," I joked. "So don't go around thinking that you're special." And with that, I turned around and walked into the room.

It was very plain and looked more to be a man's room than a woman's, but that was probably due to the fact that Gaius was expecting a boy, not a girl. Whatever, I was grateful that he was even putting me up. I could be living in the alleyways.

I deposited my bag on the bed and sat down next to it. I knocked my knees together (a bad habit not befitting of a woman, but what could I say? I _should_ have been born a boy) as I thought back to my first hour in Camelot.

I had witnessed an execution, found out that the very magic that I was born with was outlawed, saved an old man from death as he fell, and had the said old man agree not to rat me out to the King.

What a relief. I would _not_ do well in the dungeons.

I mean, not that I was speaking from _personal_ experience, of course. Err...

* * *

_Merlin..._

_ Merlin..._

I frowned in my sleep. Was _I_ making that noise in my head? For surely I wasn't, because that voice sounded nothing like my own. My eyes snapped open, and when they did, the voice seemed to stop. I groaned as the sunlight hit my eyes and realized too late that I had left the window open last night.

I shrugged the feeling off as I got out of bed. The first thing I did, as I did every morning back home, was make my bed. Then, I got changed.

Since I soiled my dress on the very first day of my journey (I was naive and believed that I'd reach Camelot in one day so I thought I should look nice-that was when I failed to notice a very large root and tripped and fell into some mud) I was left with the clothes that I usually wore for work back home. All my clothes my mother and I had made and mended every chance that we got. I pulled on black tights and a loose fitting blue tunic with a brown overcoat on top of it. I tied up my bootlaces and tucked them inside of my boots so that they couldn't come undone and I couldn't trip over them. Finally, I threw on a red scarf. I had two scarves-one red, and one blue. I always alternated between using them, and since Ealdor was generally cold, I was wearing them all the time since I was a child. I guess old habits would be hard to break, but this was one habit I didn't mind not breaking.

I was about to stroll out the door when a quick peek out the window confirmed that the sun was definitely getting higher in the sky, therefore, more blinding. I gently shook my head as I went over and grabbed my hat from my bedside table, gathering up all of my hair at the top of my head as I did so. I placed the hat right on top and smiled when it stayed in place. Most of the time it stayed, but sometimes it would just unravel, especially if a force knocked it over.

Finally, I left my room as I made my way over to the tables were Gaius worked. He had one table cleared off with two bowls-one in front of him, and one across from him, which was obviously intended for me.

"I got you water," Gaius said as he gestured to the bucket of water on the table. "You didn't wash last night."

"I apologize," I mumbled as I walked over to the table. "I had a lot on my mind."

"Help yourself to breakfast," Gaius suggested as he gestured to the bowl.

I walked over to it and sat down on the bench. I furrowed my eyebrows as I eyed the watery substance. I scooped some of it on to my spoon, frowning at the shape of it. I was about to contemplate sniffing it to make sure it was edible when I mentally smacked myself in the head at my bad manners. Gaius was offering me a bed _and_ food, and offered to keep my magic a secret in a place that merely _mentioning_ the word sorcery can get you executed. How could I be ungrateful?

I gingerly took a bite of the stuff and judging by the grainy texture of it, I assumed it to be some sort of porridge. It wasn't _totally_ awful, just really watery and grainy and oatey and okay, it was gross, but I had to learn to count my blessings.

As I was about to take another bite, the bucket filled with water next to me suddenly tipped over, and I immediately reached forward to grab it. While I stopped the bucket from falling over and the water from spilling everywhere momentarily, I didn't touch it at all.

I unknowingly used my magic.

I broke my concentration in surprise, and the water splashed all over the place as the bucket hit the ground. I winced at the sound of the bucket falling and the water splashing.

Gaius gasped when he saw me do it. "How did you do that? Did you incant a spell in your mind?"

"No, I don't have the faintest idea of any spells," I told him.

"Then how did you do that? There must be something," Gaius dug.

I shrugged as I stood up and went to grab the mop in the corner. "I don't know...it just happens sometimes. I didn't want the bucket to fall over and make a mess so it stopped in mid air."

"We better keep you out of trouble," Gaius advised as I sopped up the mess on the ground. "You can help me until I find some paid work for you."

I sighed in relief, glad for Gaius's care to basically a complete stranger. "Hollyhock and feverfew for Lady Percival," Gaius started, holding up a covered vial and putting it on the table in front of us. He held up another vial that contained a yellowish liquid. "This is for Sir Olwen. He's blind as a weevil so warn him not to take it all at once."

I nodded as I grabbed the two vials and shoved them into two different pockets in my overcoat. "All right, I got it."

"And here," I heard, and I looked over my shoulder to see Gaius holding out a sandwich. My mouth began watering ravenously, and it took everything in me not to devour the sandwich in one bite. Meat rarely came our way in Ealdor, but whenever mother and I _did_ get some, we'd make a feast of it. I grinned happily at the sight of it, looking from the sandwich to Gaius. I couldn't help myself as I launched forward and wrapped my arms tightly around the old man, nearly causing him to tip over and causing my hat to fall off, my hair coming out again. He chuckled as he patted me gently on the back.

I pulled away from him, leaned down to grab my hat, and took the plate from Gaius graciously. "Thank you," I said, trying to put all my gratitude into my words as much as I possibly could. And it wasn't _just_ for the sandwich-it was for everything he had done for me since I had gotten here. I didn't even get to meet my father, and Gaius was quickly warming up to me as a father-ish figure. I took the plate from his hands, but set it down on the table so I could wrap my hair up once again.

"Merlin, why do you wear your hair like that?" Gaius asked as I pulled the hat over my head.

"Like what?" I asked as I adjusted it to fit well. I should really invest in a hair tie or something because this method couldn't last forever.

"Like _that_," Gaius explained, gesturing at my head.

I rolled my eyes, a bad habit that my mother was continuously trying to get me to break. "I can hardly see in the sunlight, Gaius. Without this hat I'd be as blind as Sir Olwen."

"It makes you look like a boy."

"Well, then at least I know that people treat me fairly," I answered, feeling a little hurt over his comment. I mean, I didn't look _manly_, at least, I didn't think so. I shrugged the feeling off as I took the sandwich off of the plate. "Off I go," I said in goodbye as I made my way over to the door.

"Oh, Merlin?" Gaius's voice stopped me halfway out the door.

"Yes?" I answered, my mouth half stuffed with a bite of the sandwich already.

"I need hardly tell you that the practice of any form of enchantments will get you killed," Gaius reminded me grimly.

I thickly swallowed my bite of the sandwich, not enjoying that last bite as much as I should've. "Trust me, Gaius. If I know anything, it's how to _not_ get thrown in jail."

"It's not jail I'm worried about," Gaius commented as he turned back to the mopping.

A shiver ran down my spine at the thought of _my_ head being on the chopping block. "Right. I'll be careful, I promise."

And with that, I was out the door, munching away on the sandwich. I was trying to take little bites of it, because I didn't know when the opportunity to get meat like this again would come along, so I wanted to savour it.

I delivered Lady Percival her vial first (as Gaius had given me instructions on how to get to her chambers), and she thanked me politely. Then, I had to ask some people for directions to Sir Olwen. The first couple of people I asked had tricked me and I ended up at random people's chambers (and I had thought it was appropriate to ask the Knights of Camelot for directions because I thought they were more honourable than that) but one of the castle servants pointed me in the right direction, and I made my way over to Olwen's chambers.

He answered the door, though it looked like he was trying his best to see who was at the door, if there was even _someone_ at the door.

I cleared my throat. "I've brought your medicine," I said, holding it out to him.

To my dismay, he reached his hand out towards my _other_ hand, the one still holding the sandwich. And if he thought I was sharing this he was dead wrong.

I just crammed the rest of the sandwich into my mouth. I took both of his hands and circled them around the vial and made sure that he was properly holding on to it. I let go and gave him a nod in goodbye. I was about to turn around and leave when I remembered Gaius's little side note. "Gaius said not to..." I started when I turned around, but I eventually trailed off as I watched as Sir Olwen downed the whole thing in a few gulps, too late for me to stop him.

I brought my hands together and wringed my wrists. "I'm sure nothing bad'll happen. But if it does, my name is...Cassandra!" I made up on the spot, and I immediately turned on my heel and sped right out of there. Hopefully Olwen was blind enough that he wouldn't recognize me if something _were_ to happen to him.

I was wiping my crumby hands on my jacket when I came across another commotion as I stepped outside into the light. Despite my hat, I had to squint in the sunlight as I saw a tall, blond boy wearing some parts of chainmail standing with a bunch of other guys. One of them I recognized to be someone I had asked for directions from, and he was one of them that purposefully gave me wrong directions.

"_Where's_ the target?" The blond boy asked a smaller man who was holding a shield that had some stuff on top of it, obviously carrying it around.

"There, sir," the younger man answered, gesturing to the target.

"It's into the sun," the blond boy pointed out as his blue eyes flickered to the sun.

"It's not that bright," the younger man argued, also glancing up at the sun.

"A bit like you then," the blond boy joked, but the joke wasn't funny at all.

I crossed my arms as I watched the scene unfold.

"I'll put the target on the other side?" the younger man-who I now assumed to be his serving boy (the poor soul-I would rather face the danger of nearly poisoning a blind man than to serve someone like him)-stated.

The younger man went over and grabbed the target. He lifted it over his shoulder so that his shoulder was at the side of the target, and he began hauling it over to a new spot.

"This will teach him," I heard the blond man say to his petty friends, and before I could think, he threw one of his knives at the target as that serving boy was moving.

"Hang on!" The serving boy protested and to my utter disbelief, the blond boy just barked out, "Don't stop!"

The serving boy moved a little over. "Here?" He asked.

"I _told_ you to keep moving," the blond boy said. It took me a second to realize that the blond boy wanted to practice the knife throwing _while _the serving boy was moving. What if it hit him?

The blond boy merely grinned as he held his hands out. "Come on, run!"

I could only shake my head in disbelief as this continued. As a victim of bullying myself, I didn't like it at all when other people bullied other people. I mean, I still_ would_ be bullied if my best friend William hadn't stepped in to defend me, back when we were children. That was actually how William and I met.

I guess I could be the person who stepped in for this guy.

I was about to open my mouth to say something when the serving boy dropped the target and it came rolling over to my feet. Gently, I stopped it from going too far with my foot, and the serving boy, who went scrambling trying to grab it, looked up at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked him and he slowly nodded. I looked back up at Bully Blond. "Hey, I think that's enough."

My heart quickly skipped a beat when he practically glared over at me. I squared my shoulders back and stuck my chin up high, refusing to back down.

"What?" He asked, walking over to me.

I cleared my throat. "It looks to me like you've had your fun, my friend," I reasoned as confidently as I could, though I could feel my legs shaking slightly.

"Do I know you?" the blond man asked as he was almost in front of me.

"No, I'm Merlin," I answered, automatically sticking my hand out for him to shake, like I was used to when I introduced myself to someone.

"So I don't know you," He said bluntly as he now stood in front of me. In hindsight, this probably wasn't the best idea, because now he was practically looming over me, making me feel like small bug. I mean, the whole _reason_ I even got teased back in Ealdor was for my height. Now I was starting to recognize _why_ those kids so easily taunted me.

I dropped my hand, feeling embarrassment burning up inside of me. "No, you don't."

"Yet you called me 'friend'," Bully Blond pointed out.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong to," I said to him, crossing my arms. "It was a mistake."

"Yes, I think so," the blond boy "agreed".

"I'd never have an ass as a friend," I blurted. Okay, that _totally_ wasn't what I was planning on doing, it just slipped out! I guess I was just getting upset with his attitude and his tone and despite the fact that he was a collassal ass, I _still_ sort of found him attractive. I just decided that before I could say anything that would end up with me in deep trouble, to just walk away.

Unfortunately, when I tried, Mr. Doesn't Know When To Stop said, "Or I, one who could be so stupid. Tell me, Merlin. Do you know how to walk on your knees?"

"That would be a no," I mumbled quietly as I tried avoiding his eyes.

"Would you like me to help you?" He asked in a condescending tone.

This time, I matched his glare. I wouldn't let myself be made a fool of. I _wouldn't_. "You've got two seconds to back out of my face before I make you," I spat out bravely. Well, as they say, braveness can often be mistaken for stupidity.

"Really? How?" the Prat of a man chuckled. "What are _you_ going to do to me?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," I grumbled.

"Be my guest!" He laughed as he threw his arms out to the side. "Come on!" He taunted. "_Come on_."

I wanted to turn away, believe me, I did. But whenever it came to fighting off bullies, William always did it for _me_, a total stranger. And I _knew_ he was baiting me, I did, but I didn't let that stop me as I vetoed using my magic (especially in such a public place) and attempted to punch him instead.

Of course, he suspected it, and grabbed my arm as he twisted it around. I yelped in pain as he turned me around and held both my arms behind my back. Was this _seriously_ how a man treated a woman? I struggled to try and get out of his hold, but the pain shooting up my arms didn't allow me to.

"I'll throw you in jail for that," He said as I struggled to get out of his iron grip. Jeez, how strong _was_ this man?

"Who the hell do you think you are, the bloody _King_?" I growled as I tried to pull away from him.

"No, I'm his son," the man answered, and I felt my insides crumble as he said, "Arthur."

With one swift kick to the back of my knees, I was down.

* * *

**TBC...**

**I feel like this is a good start!**

**REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVOURITE! THANKS! STAY TUNED!**


	2. The Dragon's Call: DESTINY

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Merlin! I only own my OC Female Merlin, and any other plots I make up along the way!

**Author's Note: **Loving the response I'm getting! Let's keep it up!

**Enjoy!**

* * *

I was roughly thrown to the ground of a cell and groaned in pain. I lifted my head up and my hair came tumbling out of my hat. I was surprised that it hadn't earlier when Arthur had subdued me.

Of _course_ he was the Prince. Of course, I expected myself to get into fights while I was in Camelot-I didn't back down from a challenge. But of _course _the first person I fought with was the Prince of the _damn Kingdom_.

I ended up spending the night in the dungeons, so I used my hat as a pillow and my overcoat as a blanket as I tried to sleep on the floor. I was used to sleeping on the floor anyway, since I didn't have a bed in Ealdor.

"_Merlin_," I heard, and I jolted awake. Was it the morning already? A quick look out the window confirmed the sun to be slowly growing higher in the sky.

"_Merlin_," I heard again and it sounded like it was coming from the ground where I was lying down. I got on my knees and leaned over to see if the Voice-which still wasn't mine-would be louder, but I didn't hear anything for a few minutes.

"Merlin?" I heard, but this time I could identify the voice. I turned around to see the guards opening the door to my cell, and Gaius was stepping in. I sighed loudly in relief as I sprung to my feet. "Gaius!"

"You _never_ cease to amaze me!" Gaius said as he began his lecture. "The one thing that someone like you should do is keep your head down, and what do you do? _You_ behave like an _idiot_. What happened to 'If I know anything, it's how to _not_ get thrown in jail'?"

I winced at my own words that I spoke just yesterday getting thrown back in my face. "In my defense I didn't think I'd end up in jail so quickly. I'm sorry."

"You're lucky. I've managed to pull a few strings to get you released," Gaius revealed, and I broke out into a huge smile.

"Thank you so much!" I squealed.

"Well, there _is_ a small price to pay," Gaius informed me.

"Whatever it is, I'm willing to pay for it," I promised quickly, very eager to leave the dingy cell.

But the look on Gaius's face made me think I wouldn't really like the price I was going to pay.

* * *

Remind me to _never_ get into a fight ever again.

I flinched as another large chunk of lettuce was thrown at my face, smacking me before falling to the ground. That was followed by rotten tomatoes and more lettuce and just about everything else. My back ached like something awful because of the hunched over position I was in, and I knew I'd feel that even worse in the morning. I have heard that the stocks were horrible by the people who have actually been in them, but I never thought I'd experience it for myself.

Oh well. At least it wasn't jail.

But that thought didn't stop me from glaring at Gaius, who had laughed as he passed by me. My hat was stuck in my back pocket because I couldn't get it to stay on my head properly, so my hair was flowing down in front of me.

The villagers all left, but I suspected that they'd be back with more food. I spat out a piece of lettuce that actually managed to get into my mouth. I felt someone beside me and slowly looked over. I was surprised to see tanned, dark skinned woman with red dress and a darker red cape.

"I'm Guinevere, but most people just call me Gwen," She introduced. "I'm the Lady Morgana's maid."

Even though I had no idea who that was, I nodded. "I'm Merlin," I offered, and I struggled to stretch out a hand to shake hers with because I was chained to the stocks. "Though it seems like people here have renamed me 'idiot'. For good reason, I suppose."

"No, I saw what you did. It was so brave," Gwen praised. That made me smile a little, but the smile dropped when she said, "Though I'm glad you walked away. You weren't gonna beat him."

"And why not?" I asked, though I was just jesting. Mostly. "You don't think I can take on Arthur?"

"Not really," Gwen said, quite bluntly. "Arthur's one of those rough tough, save the world kind of men. And you don't really look like that."

"I'm glad, because I'm a woman," I said, scrunching up my eyebrows.

Gwen nodded. "Yes, I only noticed _afterwards_. I didn't want to say anything in case I offended you."

"The only way you could possibly offend me, Guinevere, is by saying that I can't beat Arthur Pendragon in a fight," I joked, which made Gwen burst into laughter. We were interrupted by the return of the village people, but with more rotten food. Oh boy...

"It was nice to meet you Gwen, but I can't keep my fans waiting," I said as I gestured to them. Gwen chuckled slightly and waved goodbye as she walked away. I was waving back as best as I could when I was pelted with more food. Honestly, Camelot thinks _this_ was the best solution to get rid of food? I could think of so many more effective ones...

* * *

"I'll never look at broccoli the same way," I muttered to myself as I _finally_ washed out all the food from my hair. It stilled smelled like a little bit like rotten food, but what could I do? Gaius was running low on soap and I didn't want to impose, so I just gave my hair the best rinse I could. Once I could find a paying job, I was going to help with the expenses around here.

I huffed as I sat down at the table, my bowl of soppy porridge in front of me. Deciding that it was never going to get better than this, I sucked it up and picked up my spoon.

"Do you want some vegetables with that?" Gaius asked as he pushed a bowl of vegetables towards me.

I think I visibly flinched, before I looked up and gave Gaius a look that told him I was less than impressed. "I think I would rather become a carnivore for the rest of my life," I said as Gaius sat down across from me. I became slightly more serious as I said, "I know you're still mad at me," because it was true. Gaius hadn't said anything, but I could see it.

"Your mother asked me to look after you," Gaius informed me.

"Yes, I'm aware of that much," I confirmed as I spoon some porridge-or was it oatmeal?-into my mouth.

"What did your mother say to you about your gifts?" Gaius asked.

I shrugged slightly. Mother and I rarely discussed my magic for fear of villagers overhearing. "Just that I was special. But I suppose every mother says that to her child."

"It's true with you," Gaius said. "You _are_ special. The likes of which I've never seen before."

"Care to explain?" I asked.

"Well, magic requires incantations," Gaius began. "Spells, it takes _years _of study. What I saw you do was..."

"Magical?" I joked.

Gaius gave me a look as he said, "_Elemental_. Instinctive."

"But I just don't see the point of it if I can't even use it here," I told Gaius.

"That I do not know," Gaius said. "You are a queston that has never been posed before, Merlin."

"Of course, that's what everyone wants to hear," I mumbled to myself. "Did you ever study magic?" I asked louder.

"Uther banned all such work twenty years ago," Gaius said after a seconds hesitation.

"But why?" I asked. "I don't understand _why_ it's banned. It's not banned in Cenred's Kingdom."

"People used magic for the wrong end at the time. It threw natural order into chaos," He said. "Uther made it his mission to destroy everything from back then, even the dragons."

"Dragons?" I asked, my eyebrows shooting up to my hairline. "All of them?"

"There was one dragon he chose not to kill, kept it as an example," Gaius said. "He imprisoned it in a cave deep beneath the castle."

"Imprisoned? But that's awful!" I protested. "Dragon's are very large creatures, it probably hates it down there."

"They are very large, which was the precise reason he put it beneath the castle," Gaius said. "It's so no one can free it."

I looked down and swirled my food around in my bowl, an easy task as it was the equivalent of soup, but not really soup. Keeping a creature like a dragon trapped? That was horrible of the King. Also, keeping it beneath the castle? That probably wasn't the smartest move he could have made.

"Now, eat up," Gaius said, changing the subject. "When you've finished I need you to take a preparation to Lady Helen. She needs it for her voice."

I nodded, and we dug in.

* * *

Damn castles being so big. I had no idea where Lady Helen's room _was_. You think that I would've been smart enough to ask Gaius where it was before I left first.

I slipped the tonic into my overcoat pocket, stuck the brim of my hat into my mouth, and used both hands to tie my hair up into a bun before sticking my hat on my head. If Camelot's days were always going to be hot, then I needed to get something other than this hat. Maybe I could ask Guinevere if she had any ties to spare...

This time I was smarter and went straight to one of the servant girls to ask her where Lady Helen's room was, and she gave me the right directions. And on my first try!

There was no one in the room and the door was open, so I just strolled in and dropped the tonic on the table next to vases of flowers. As far as I knew, Lady Helen was here to sing for the celebrations of Camelot being "magic free".

Technically, it wasn't, not with me here.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I caught sight of a straw doll. It was wrapped with beads and...I don't know. It just gave me a bad vibe. I picked it up and turned it over a couple of times to see if there was actually something wrong with it, but there was nothing. Maybe it was a present from a young child who was an admirer of her singing.

I was just about to dismiss it when I saw a book that was bounded by a piece of string hidden beneath cloths. Being the nosy person that I was, I moved the cloths over and picked up the book, feeling some extra weight in my hands. The book itself wasn't that big, and it didn't appear to have many pages, but there was just something...off about it.

I was about to untie the string and open it when I heard the door open, and I scrambled to put the book and cloths back into the place that they were before whoever stepped in-most likely the Lady Helen-suspected that something was wrong.

I spun around just as a woman in a magenta dress walked in. Presumably the Lady Helen. "What're doing in here?" She asked.

"I was told to deliver this," I said, blindly grabbing the tonic and holding it out to the noble.

She took it from my hands and as soon as I couldn't feel it anymore, I was out of there. There was something off in there, but I couldn't exactly investigate.

I sighed in relief as I slowed my pace once I got into the market areas. I inquired if anyone was looking for help for work, but every place that I went to shot me down. I was starting to feel dejected when I spotted a dress store.

Now I usually said that dresses didn't matter to me, but I was still a woman. And when I saw something pretty, I was drawn to it.

It was a beautiful, deep red dress. The skirt was very long, as was the sleeves, and I knew that it would be more expensive as a result of this. It had gold laces in the chest area, and gold embroidery along the neck, waist, and on the sleeves. I sighed as I touched the soft material, relishing at the feeling between my fingertips. Oh well. A girl could always dream, couldn't she?

I couldn't help but imagine how the dress would look on me and smiled at the image in my head. Yes, dreaming was nice.

"How's your knee walking coming along?"

And my nice dream was now ruined.

Even though I knew who the voice belonged too, I still looked over my shoulder at Prince Prat himself, Arthur. He was still with his two "friends" I guess you could call them, but who'd really be friends with Arthur?

I rolled my eyes and turned away, starting to make my way back to Gaius's. "Just let it go, Merlin. He's not worth it," I muttered to myself.

"Oh, don't run away!" He teased, and I could feel my anger boilng up.

Don't do it, Merlin. Don't do it, Merlin.

In the end, my anger won out. "From someone like you?" I asked and swirled around. "I'd much rather be strung up by my feet."

"Oh, thank _God_. I thought you were deaf as well as dumb."

How could I have ever thought he was attractive? For even a second? "Look, I know you're an ass, but I had no idea that you were a _royal_ one." I looked over at his two sidekicks. "Oh, are you going to get Daddy's men to fight your battles? And people call you strong."

Prince Prat had the audacity to _laugh_. "I could take you apart with one blow," He said, so sure of himself.

"I could take you apart with less," I said, once again, the words tumbling out without proper filter. On the outside I looked brave, but on the inside, all I wanted to do was run home to my mother in Ealdor and never return. This was going to take a bad turn, I could already feel it.

"Are you sure?" Arthur asked.

I couldn't back down now. If my mother taught me anything, it was a) make sure to brush behind my ears when I bathe and b) never let anyone make you feel like less than you are.

So that's what caused me to pull off my overcoat, leaving me in just my dark purple tunic (purple was my favourite colour) and breeches. I still kept my hat on, though, because I could just feel that I would need to keep my hair up.

Prince Ass laughed as he saw me take off my coat and threw me a miniature mace. "Here you go, Big Man."

_Big Man_? I thought. The name startled me so much I didn't even realize that a mace was coming for my head, so I had to take a step back to avoid getting hit. Of course, that only ended up with me looking foolish, and I felt my cheeks burn as I bent over to pick it up.

"Come on, then," He said as he started whirling around a miniature mace of his own with ease over his head. Humph. Show off. "I warn you, I've been trained to kill since birth."

"That's amazing. Don't you think that's amazing?" I asked one of the bystanders sarcastically. "But you know what would surprise me more? What's the number of years that _you've_ been training to be an ass?" My usual ladylike filter went right out the window.

Arthur actually laughed, like he couldn't believe how I was talking to him. "You can't address me like that."

He was right, I couldn't, but was I about to let him know that? No. "Oh, what would you prefer? Prince Prat, Prince Ass, you're Royal Assness, the list goes on. Pick your favourite, I don't have any particular attachment, _my Lord_," I said, mock curtseying.

That finally did it for him. He turned around, as if he was going to laugh with his lackies, but suddenly turned around and struck at my head. If I hadn't seen him change the position of his feet last second to know that he was turning around, I wouldn't have known to duck. But I did, and my head was still safely on my shoulders, which was where Arthur was aiming.

I was in trouble. He had no qualms about hitting women. Or, maybe he thought I was a boy, hence the "Big Man". Too late to explain.

I tried not to trip over my own two feet as I back up from Arthur, who was walking and swinging the mace as if it were the easiest thing in the world to him. "Come on then, Merlin!"

Curse my mother giving me a masculine name.

My chain got caught in a small cage with hay and I nearly screamed in frustration. Arthur was closing in on me, and I was currently weaponless. I was forced to abandon it as he took another strike at me, and I had to duck out of the way. Prince Prat hit the cage instead of my head.

I looked for more space behind me so I could keep retreating, but I failed to notice the fruit cart behind me. I hit the wheel and went sailing to the other side. I crashed on to my side, but I had to ignore the pain as I got on my hands and knees. The poor fruits had to suffer their prince's rath as he tried to hit me, but obviously missed again. I barely had enough time to get out of the cart area before Arthur was there again.

I groaned as I tripped over a pile of flour bags. I _seriously_ needed to start being aware of my surroundings more.

"You're in trouble now," Arthur taunted, and I hate that I had to realize that he was right. I looked around me to see if there was anything that could help me, and I noticed some hooks around where Arthur was swinging his mace.

_Not for long_. I still didn't know any spells, but I focused as hard as I could and channelled all the magic in my body in a fit of desperation, and to my relief, the hooks did as I wanted. The came together to form a "U" shape, and Arthur's mace got stuck in it, much like my mace got stuck in the cage.

The crowd that had formed to watch our little show gasped as they saw their mighty prince get caught. It gave me enough of a time window to scramble to my feet to try and figure out a plan. Sadly, that time window wasn't open for very long as Arthur had gotten his mace unstuck in the time that it took for me to stand up and back away a few feet away from him.

I looked around me for help again because it worked well the last time, and I saw a wooden block in front of where Arthur was descending on me. I distreectly used my magic to move the block in front of him and grinned in triumph as he smashed his toe against the block and howled in pain.

I ran over to a table. Arthur shook off the pain fast enough and tried to hit me _again_ but missed and hit a tray of eggs instead as I ducked under the table. I used my magic to pull on a nearby pile of rope so that he'd trip over it. To my delight, he did, and he fell face first into sacks of...something.

He had dropped the mace when he fell, so I grabbed it as quickly as I could and stood up. Arthur stood up as well, and quickly realized that he was now weaponless.

My hat was teetering on my head but I made no move to try and fix it as I swung the mace. "Do you give up?"

"Do you?" He asked. His ego, however, effectively went down a notch as _he_ tripped backwards this time, into the same pile of flour that I had when he had thought that he had won the battle.

Actually, I did give up. Beating up Arthur would make me no better than him, and I refused to stoop to his level. I dropped the mace on the ground and turned around to leave, but I was stopped in my tracks at the sight of Gaius, who was also standing in the ground, half of which was cheering for me. He looked disappointed as he shook his head, and I instantly felt like a proper ass. Gaius had already stuck his neck out for me more, on more than one occassion. If word got back to the King that I nearly damaged his son...Gaius wouldn't be able to get me out of that one.

I opened my mouth to start my ten part apology, but it was interrupted as I felt a hard hit on my behind, and I swirled around in surprise.

Arthur had obviously gotten over himself and had gotten up at some point when I turned around. He now held a broom in his hand, which I presumed was the object that he hit me with. He struck me again in the waist, and finally in the head as I fell backwards.

I groaned loudly as my already scratched from the spikey broom back hit the rough ground. I _knew_ I fell on some rocks and maybe even a few splinters.

And the stupid, idiotic, _pathetic excuse for a prince_ mimed sweeping up the area around me as if he was cleaning up a mess.

My hat had finally fallen off and my hair came loose when I fell to the ground. I slowly lifted my head up because it felt like someone was taking a hammer and smashing it against my skull (I swear I saw little stars above me) when my hair spilled out, falling down my back in its natural curls. I pressed a hand to my forehead to try and steady my mind, and I felt a wet stickiness at the top. I had cut my head.

There were several gasps from the crowd and when I looked over, they were all looking at me. I guess _they_ didn't know I was a girl, either.

The crowd had gone from cheering for Arthur to dead silent in a matter of seconds, and Arthur turned around to see why his "Adoring crowd" wasn't clapping for him anymore. His eyes grew to the size of saucers when he caught sight of my long hair. He looked like he had finally taken a good _look_ at me.

"You're...a _girl_?" He managed to stammer out.

I refused to answer as Gaius made his way through the crowd. I wouldn't even look at the prince, didn't even acknowledge his cries of "Wait!" As Gaius helped me up and took me back to his chambers.

Humph. Some _prince_.

* * *

"How could you be so _foolish_?"

I rolled my eyes at Gaius beginning his lecture. My back and stomach still ached, but I tried my best to shrug it off as I said, "_Someone_ had to teach him a lesson and because everyone in this blasted Kingdom is too scared to stand up to him, _I_ had to do it."

"Magic must be studied, mastered, and used for good! Not for idiotic pranks!"

I spun around the best I could. "I don't see what the big fuss is about studying and mastering! I've been doing stuff like that since before I could even speak!"

"Then by now you should know how to control yourself!"

"There wasn't exactly a _guidebook_, Gaius! Even if I _could_ 'master' my magic, I don't want to! I can't, not in a Kingdom where the penalty of even being _suspected_ of having magic is death!" I practically yelled, and I felt tears brimming my eyes. "If I can't use my magic, then I have no point in life," I said the last bit quieter, nearly choking up. I turned around and stomped up to my room.

I wanted to cry, but I had no energy to as I flopped on to my bed, laying on my stomach. It would have been impossible to try and rest on my back.

A few minutes later, I heard the door open, but I made no move to acknowledge whoever was there. "Merlin. Sit up, take your shirt off," Gaius said as he walked over to me.

I sat up the best that I could, but I felt a little subconscious over having to take my shirt off in front of Gaius. Thankfully, he turned around, so I quickly pulled off my tunic and practically wrapped it around my chest so that I was covered. Gaius sat down next to me, a small basket of what looked like medicine and cotton balls in it.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you," I mumbled as Gaius soaked a cotton ball with some sort of liquid. "I didn't mean to. I was just so upset."

"It's all forgiven," Gaius said as he dabbed at my cuts, and I tried not to hiss in pain or recoil.

"Do you have any idea as to why I was born like this?" I asked Gaius, looking over at him slightly. "There has to be a reason. I don't believe in coincidences."

"Neither do I," Gaius said as he covered my scratches with a large bandage. He looked away again as I slipped my tunic back on. He then got to work on the cut on my forehead. "But I don't know why you were born like this. Perhaps there's someone who knows more than I do."

I scoffed. "I seriously doubt that. No one else would even dare to utter the word 'magic'."

Gaius silently poured a potion into a glass and held it out to me. "Take this. It'll help with the pain."

I barely let myself taste it as I downed the whole thing in one go. I handed the cup back to Gaius, who handed me something else.

It was my blasted hat.

I chuckled in disbelief as I swirled it around in my hand. This stupid hat had caused me so many problems. I threw it into the corner of my room, wincing at the ache in my shoulder from the action.

"You should get some rest," Gaius advised, getting up from my bed so that I could stretch myself out on it.

I laid on my side to avoid aggravating my wounds. I wrapped my blanket over me and I was about to fall asleep when I heard a knock on my door. "Merlin?" Gaius's voice rang out as he walked back in. There was a look of shock on his face. "Prince Arthur is here to see you."

My heart immediately pounded in fury. "He's truly daft if he thinks that _I _want to see him," I practically bit as I buried my face back into my pillow.

"Merlin, you can't exactly _deny_ seeing the Prince of Camelot," Gaius pointed out.

I shook my head. "I think I just did. Tell him that I'm supposed to be resting. Physician's orders. Also, tell him that the physician wouldn't even _need_ to tell me to rest if he hadn't been a condescending prat."

Gaius had a blank look on his face. "I'll just tell him you fell asleep."

* * *

"_Merlin..._"

I snapped my eyes open, surprised to see that it was still dark outside, meaning that it was sometime in the middle of the night. The voice from before had called out my name again.

"_Merlin..._"

I shot up in bed, wincing at the slight pain in my back as I did so. I threw my covers off and shivered a bit since I was just in my nightdress. But that didn't stop me as I pulled on my boots and got out of bed.

I slipped on my overcoat as I carefully tip toed past a sleeping Gaius. I didn't know if Gaius was a heavy sleeper, but I wasn't taking any chances. Before I stepped out, I used my magic to pull Gaius's blanket more over him so that he was warmer. It was the least I could do.

As quietly as humanly possible, I opened the front door and stepped outside. I shut the door equally as quietly and followed the direction of where my name was being called out. I arrived at the tunnels under the castle and cursed when I saw two guards playing dice in front of the place where the voice was coming from the loudest. Thinking quickly, I used my magic to throw their dice to the other side of the room.

While they were distracted with that, I ran the rest of the way and came to a dark tunnel. I grabbed an unlit torch and lit it so that I could see in the darkness of the tunnel where my name was _still_ being called. I finally came to the mouth of a large cave, stopping only when the cliff ended so that I wouldn't fall.

"Where are you? You dragged me out of bed to listen to you _laugh_?" I asked whoever was taunting me, the laughs echoing in my ears.

There was a sudden roar and the loud sound of flapping wings as a large creature came flying over and landed on top of a rock in front of me. My jaw slacked and I stumbled backwards as I recognized the creature to be a _dragon_.

"I'm here," The scaly reptile said as he settled on top of the rock.

"You're a-a-a," I stammered, staring at the towering dragon.

The Dragon laughed. "How small you are, for such a great destiny."

"Destiny? What destiny? I didn't sign up for a destiny," I said in confusion.

"Silly girl, destinies aren't something that one can pick and choose," He said wisely. "They are bestowed upon people before their very birth. For example, your gift was bestowed upon you for a good reason."

"What's that reason?" I eagerly inquired. So there _was_ a reason! I wasn't just a freak!

He nodded. "Arthur is the Once and Future King who will unite the land of Albion."

"...Sure?" I offered. I had no idea what that had to do with me. And Arthur? Uniting people? He only knew how to bully people, if he knew anything _at all_.

"But he faces many threats from friend and foe alike," The Dragon went on.

"A) I don't see how that's supposed to surprise me, he's a prat and b) What does that have to do with _my_ destiny?" I asked.

"Everything!" He said quickly. "Without you, Arthur will never succeed. Without you, there'll be no Albion."

"No," I said, shaking my head. What the hell was this Dragon on about? And why was I even listening to him? "This is all wrong, _you're_ wrong. Arthur and I are about as much connected as snakes and mice."

"There is no right or wrong," The Dragon quipped. "Only what is, and what isn't."

"Than this _isn't_ my responsibility," I retorted. "If someone wants to kill him, I certainly won't get in the way to try and stop them. In fact, I'll polish their sword."

The Dragon merely chuckled. "None of us can choose our destiny, Merlin. And none of us can escape it."

"Believe me, if I know anything, it's how to escape. Do you know how many scoldings from my mother about my magic that I've escaped?" I shook my head. "That doesn't even matter. If what you're saying even rings a bit of the truth, then there _has_ to be another Arthur because this one's a stupid brat."

"Perhaps it's your destiny to change that," He suggested.

"Do I look like his mother?!" I burst. "That's not my job! Sign me up for another one, any other one!"

The Dragon chose to ignore me and simply stood up as he spread his wings. Before I could even protest, he was flying through the caves and away from me, a signal to show that this conversation was over.

I didn't let that stop me, though. "Stop! Wait! I need you to tell me more!"

His chuckles rang throughout the whole cave.

* * *

I jerked awake when the door to my bedroom opened and blinked hard, trying to get the sunlight out from my eyes that was streaming through my open window. I _needed_ to invest in some curtains.

"Have you seen the state of this room?" Gaius stormed as he barged in.

After getting thrown into jail for trying to attack the prince, running around doing errands for Gaius, actually getting injured by said prince, and _then_ being told by a cryptic dragon that it was my destiny to help aforementioned prince unite the lands of Albion, cleaning my chambers was the _last _thing on my mind.

"I'm far too busy getting into trouble to bother with cleaning my chambers," I joked, which actually cracked a smile from Gaius.

"Well, you can clean it up _without_ magic," Gaius said, reading my mind before I could even fathom the thought. He picked up a pair of dirty breeches and threw them in my face. I _seriously_ needed to give my clothing a good wash. They hadn't seen one since I arrived in Camelot. "Then I want you to get me some herbs. Henbane, wormwood and sorrel. Then deliver this to Morgana." He handed me a small vial of potion. "The poor girl is suffering from nightmares."

Morgana. I recognized the name. Guinevere was her maid. Maybe I'd see Gwen. The thought was enough to perk me up. I threw my covers off of me and changed into an off white tunic, brown breeches, my usual overcoat, and my blue scarf, giving my red scarf the day off.

I was about to stroll right out my door when I heard another voice besides Gaius's in the main chamber areas. I let go of the doorknob and leaned my head on the door so that I could try and hear better.

"I had no idea that she was a female," Arthur said to Gaius. "If I had known, I never would've spoken to her or _treated_ her in that manner."

I scoffed. He only cared if he hurt my precious feelings if I were a _girl_? If I were a boy, he'd have absolutely no problem with it.

"I'm sure she's completely forgotten about it by now, Sire," Gaius said, which was a load of lies. Gaius was only saying that to save the prat's feelings.

"All the same, I'd still like to apologize to her in person," Arthur said.

"She'll be down in a minute."

Like hell I was.

I grabbed the stool that was in the corner of my room and put it in front of the window. When I stepped on top of it, I was just tall enough to shove my arms through the window itself. I looked down and frowned at the distance of the drop. Hmmm. Maybe a stack of hay could just _happen_ to fall in front of the window.

I looked over to a cart that had barrels of hay and concentrated as hard as I could on them. To my delight, I made two move and made it look like the wind had knocked them over, and they were now beneath the window. Before I could have the chance to lose my nerve or someone could move the barrels, I launched myself out of the window. The land wasn't as nice as I thought, but it was better than hitting the cold hard ground. I rubbed at the spot on my head that I hit but shrugged it off as I stood up and brushed off the whole thing, even though there were a few villagers who stopped and were now staring at me for what I had just attempted.

I just held my head up high as I made my way back to the front of the castle so I could get directions to Lady Morgana's chambers.

* * *

I finally made my way to Morgana's chambers (the castle really needed a map) and I had to confess, I was eager to meet the woman that Gwen was helping. I had heard a few things about Morgana, but it was merely whispers from the other girls in the village who were envious of her beauty.

I wasn't prepared at all to realize how _right_ they were. Morgana was the literal princess, in every way. I knew she wasn't the _real_ princess, but with her looks and grace (and this was all from seeing her from behind) she might as well have been. She had gorgeous, clear ivory skin, and a full head of black, silky hair that practically had its own _glow_.

To say that I wasn't a little envious of her beauty would have been a lie, but a while ago I had come to terms that this was my body forever and I was stuck with it (this was mostly in reference to my magic but it applied well to other fields, like my height or my hair).

I was just going to leave the draught on her table and then leave, but to my horror, she began _speaking_. "You know, I've been thinking about Arthur."

Oh God, please tell me she wasn't like every other brainwashed woman in this Kingdom.

"I wouldn't touch him with a lance pole," She continued as she stepped behind her changing screen.

Well, at least _one_ woman had some sense.

"I admire that girl, though. Merlin, you said her name was?"

Oh God, she was talking about me. _Gwen_'s mentioned me to her.

"Mmhmm," I said, trying to mimic Gwen's voice as best as I could. I would have said something sooner, but I was curious about what she had to say about me.

"She stood up to him, _twice_, while knowing the consequences. I mean, I stand up to Arthur all the time, but he can't exactly say anything to _me_. She's brave, I'll give her that. It's entertaining, watching Arthur fret over the fact that he had no idea she was a girl when he challenged her. I haven't been this amused in a long time. I'd love to meet her some time, maybe get some tips on how she can get under his skin so well. I've been running out of tricks."

"I'm so glad that I can help amuse you so, Lady Morgana," the words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them. I needed to work on that filter.

A delicate gasp filled the air as she stepped out from behind the changing screen. Her sea blue eyes widened as a hand went up to cover her mouth. "I apologize!" She said as she walked over to me. I opened my mouth to wave her apology off, but she grasped my hands tightly. "You _are_ Merlin, correct?"

I nodded, and she continued. "I apologize once again. I didn't mean to speak of you in that manner. I hope I haven't offended you-"

I slipped my hands out of her grasp, which only made the look of worry on her face increase. "Though I am very grateful about your concerns for my feelings, Lady Morgana, they are not needed. You thought you were speaking with Guinevere and I understand that."

"That still didn't give me the right to speak about you as I did," She argued.

I shrugged slightly. "You weren't speaking ill of me. It doesn't matter to me."

She sighed in relief. "Though I do feel very ashamed of the manner that I spoke about you in, I still stand by my words. You are very brave, Merlin."

The unexpected compliment, especially from someone like Morgana made me flush. "Thank you, Lady Morgana. Oh, and as for some tips on how to annoy Prince Arthur?" She smirked when I brought the topic up. "Never let him get away with anything."

"Trust me, I never do," She said. "I hope that you can forgive me?"

"It's all forgotten," I confirmed. Kindness practically emitted off of this woman. How had she grown up with Arthur and none of her kindness rubbed off on him?

I looked down at my hands that held Morgana's draught and finally remembered _why_ I had come here in the first place. "Oh-this is from Gaius. He said it was for your nightmares."

"Thank you," She said sincerely as she took it from my hands. "It was nice of you to bring it up."

I gave her a smile and was about to turn around and leave when something struck me. The other night, Gaius had extended the invitation to attend King Uther's feast, and I had accepted because, well, it was food. That was also all before Arthur and I had fought and he found out I was a girl and was making it his life mission to track me down and apologize. I turned around slowly to face Morgana again. "Lady Morgana?"

"Just Morgana," She said quickly, as if it was a reflex action.

"I'm sure you'd understand if I wanted to avoid Prince Arthur at all costs," I said, and she nodded in agreement. "So do you have any tips that could get me to blend in? The last thing I need is for him to be able to easily pick me out of a crowd."

Morgana thought deeply as she tapped her chin. "Well, the most logical thing to do would be to make you look like someone you're not, so that he wouldn't be able to recognize you."

I smiled at her advice. "Thank you so much. Now I just have to figure out a way to do that," I said, the last part mostly to myself as I turned around to leave.

The door opened just as I was about to go to it, and Gwen stepped in. "Merlin?" She questioned, wondering why I was in her mistress's chambers.

"Gwen, you're here!" Morgana clapped happily as she went over to stand next to her. She hooked her arm through Gwen's. "Merlin has a bit of a dilemma. She needs to hide herself from Arthur so that she doesn't have to speak to him about what happened. I think we can help her, can't we?"

I felt my stomach drop. That wasn't what I wanted! "Oh no, Morgana, that's not necessary."

I saw Gwen raise her eyebrows slightly at my being so formal with Morgana but pretended not to notice. Morgana, however, scoffed lightly. "Are you serious? Of course it is! It's the least I could do."

"Morgana, I told you, I forgive you for what you said. You weren't even speaking ill of me!"

"I know, but I still feel bad," She protested. "Let me do this for you and then I'll be out of your hair."

I looked over at Gwen, who gave me a look that said that I might as wel give in, since Morgana was not about to back down. "Only if you _promise_ not to do too much." I didn't want her to get in trouble helping a mere peasant girl. Sad as the term was, it was what I was.

"Of course."

* * *

I didn't know what Morgana's definition of "too much" was but it was very different from mine.

She found an old dress of hers that didn't fit her anymore and put me in it, despite my hundreds of protests of her not to. She insisted that she did it, especially since all Arthur's seen me in had been a tunic and breeches, so he wouldn't expect to see me in a dress. I had to admit, it hugged my usually non-existent curves very well and flowed to the ground, just in the style that I'd always wanted. I promised that I'd have the dress cleaned and ready for the next day to return to her, but she would hear none of it and practically begged me to keep the gown.

Since Gwen mentioned that all I'd worn on my head since my first day in Camelot was my hat with my hair pinned up in it, she suggested that I wear my hair down. Arthur had already seen my hair down, though, so she and Morgana somehow managed to make put my hair half up and half down.

I tried telling them that all this wasn't necessary so many times, but they eventually just ignored me as they worked. They didn't do much, but I still looked different enough that Arthur probably wouldn't recognize me in a crowd, especially if he wasn't intentionally looking for me. I'd thanked them over and over and over again, but Morgana just made it sound like she was just making it up to me.

I made my way back to Gaius's, my normal clothes wrapped up in my arms as I made my way down the hall. I kept looking over my shoulder, expecting someone to recognize me, but no one did. A few of the Knights actually acknowledged me with a polite nod or even a bow. I guess they must have mistook me for a noble.

"There you are, Merlin!" Gaius said as I walked in. His back was to me as he turned around saying, "I've been waiting for you for a very long time? What on Earth could have possibly-"

Gaius stopped talking as he took in my form. His jaw was slightly agape as I stood in front of him.

"What?" I asked as I looked down at the dress. It wasn't dirty as far as I could see. "Is it too much? I _told_ Morgana not to go overboard-"

"No, Merlin, you look...beautiful," Gaius said, and I smiled and blushed. "Every eye will be on you tonight."

"I appreciate the compliment, but the thing that I wanted was to _avoid_ the public eye," I said. "I'm only dressed like this because Morgana thought it was the best way to avoid Arthur."

"Speaking of Arthur, I heard you about to come down the stairs this morning," Gaius said as he crossed his arms. "How did you escape your room? You didn't use magic, did you?"

I wringed my wrists. "Well, sort of. I didn't use magic to take myself out of my room. I just jumped out the window."

Gaius's eyes widened. "You jumped out the _window_? Heavens, are you all right?"

"Oh, I'm fine," I brushed off. "The barrels of hay I fell on top of, however, were not."

Gaius gave me a slightly disapproving look, but shook his head. "All right. If we don't leave now, we'll be late."

"Okay!" I said as we turned to walk out the door. Despite the fact that Arthur was going to be there, it was still a _feast_. And even though I was only there to work, I don't think anyone would notice if I slipped a bit of food...

* * *

Well the disguise worked as well as I'd hoped, because I had already spotted Arthur with his "friends" and he hadn't noticed me at all.

I guess I was pretty much glaring at him and was so absorbed in my anger that I didn't even hear Gwen call out my name. "Merlin?"

I snapped my head towards her and let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "I'm so sorry, Gwen."

"Busy hating Arthur?" She joked as she cradled a jug in her hand.

"Yup," I said instantly. I looked over at Gwen. "Is Morgana here yet?"

Gwen nodded. "Yes. She's over there speaking to some people."

I followed her gaze and easily spotted the raven haired beauty laughing at something that someone said to her. She was wearing a red wine coloured dress with her hair pinned up, topped with a golden circlet.

"She looks great, doesn't she?" Gwen asked.

I nodded. "Very."

"You look pretty too," Gwen complimented.

I blushed yet again. I wasn't used to so many people complimenting me. The only people who did were my mother and Will. "Thank you. Though Morgana does look way better."

Gwen nodded, having to agree with me. "Some people are just born to be queen," She commented as Arthur went over to Morgana to speak to her.

"Ew, no," I said. I couldn't help but feel a little bad for Morgana since marriage to Arthur was obviously where everything was headed.

"I hope so, one day. Not that I'd want to be her. Who'd want to marry Arthur?" Gwen asked, slightly wrinkling her nose.

"She must be blind, deaf, and have absolutely terrible taste in men," I pointed out. Normally I would have gotten a stern look from Gwen, but she allowed a small smile.

Trumpets sounded, alerting the people that the King was making his way into the hall and to take their seats. The seats were really for the people of the royal court, so I just stood off to the side, out of sight.

King Uther walked in, a very regal air about him. Once again I felt like the word "MAGIC" was printed in large letters on my forehead, and I fought the urge to hide behind a pillar since it could very easily be me on the chopping block next.

"We have enjoyed twenty years of peace and prosperity," Uther announced. "It has brought the Kingdom and myself many pleasures, but few can compare with the honor of introducing Lady Helen of Mora!"

Everyone took their seats while Lady Helen stepped on to the platform. The feeling that was practically emitting off of her was still very off putting, but to say something would definitely guarantee another stay in the dungeons, so I just kept my mouth shut as Lady Helen opened hers and started singing.

However, there seemed to be something...off, about her singing. It sounded as if she was singing a lullaby at first, but the words didn't sound like they were in English. Slowly, the people around me began falling asleep, noble and servant alike. I quickly figured out that it was Lady Helen's doing, so I cupped my hands over my ears to stop whatever she was saying (a spell, perhaps?) from entering my mind.

My stomach dropped in horror when I saw cobwebs starting to form on the sleeping people (Gaius included) as well as the room going darker. Lady Helen's singing got much louder and more filled with power as she began walking to the sleeping forms of Uther and Arthur. At first I thought she was going for Uther, but she changed her direction and headed for Arthur instead. To my horror, she slipped out a dagger from the inside of her sleeve and held it up, making it look like she was going to throw it in the direction of Arthur's heart, which she probably was.

...Okay, Arthur wasn't the _nicest_ person in the Kingdom, but it still wasn't in me to just stand around and watch him be _murdered_, despite what I said about helping. I also thought back to what the Dragon had said, about how if Arthur died, everything would be lost. I only had maybe five seconds to decide if I was truly going to believe him.

Helen reared her arm back to throw the dagger at Arthur, and I had made my decision.

Damn it.

I looked around for anything to stop her with and my eyes landed on the chandelier above her head. I focused all my magic and willed the chain to break and thankfully, it did. It came crashing to the ground and landed on top of Lady Helen before she could do any actual damage to Arthur.

I sighed in relief as everyone in the room started waking up, the effects of the spell immediately breaking. They all pushed away the cobwebs as they stirred.

I looked back over to Lady Helen and was surprised to see that she was no longer the Lady Helen, but Thomas Collins' mother, who had sworn revenge for her son's death on my first day in Camelot. She wasn't dead yet, and she looked determined to use her last minute of life to do something. She reared back and threw the dagger right at Arthur, who had awoken and was stood up. He just stood there like an idiot, but I guess he was so stunned he didn't know what to do.

I was acting before I was thinking, and I ran straight for Arthur, thankfully not tripping over my skirt. I was _not_ about to let him die _again_ after _just_ saving his life.

I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him away just in time as the blade buried itself into the chair instead of Arthur. The two of us went crashing to the ground and I grimanced slightly as I landed on my back. The two of us sat up, Arthur at first just staring at the spot where he could have _died_. Then, he was looking at me.

Great. The one thing I wanted to accomplish this evening was to avoid Arthur at all costs and I ended up face to face with him.

Destiny was a joke.

"You..." He breathed out as he stood up. He offered me a hand, and I was forced to take it as he helped me stand up.

Uther ran over to where Arthur and I were, relieved that his son was safe. "You saved my boy's life," He said in awe to me. He immediately took my hand in his. "A debt must be repaid."

Honestly, I felt so nervous being so close to the King, especially after I saved the life of his child. My hand, which could produce magic without me even blinking an _eye_ shook a little as he held it. I just wanted to run back to Gaius's and never come back out. I opted instead to avoid Uther's gaze completely and just stare at his nicely polished shoes. "It was nothing..." I tried.

"Oh, don't be so modest. You shall be rewarded," He insisted.

"Your Highness, you really don't have to-" I tried again. I could feel Arthur's gaze on my face as I tried arguing with his father to not reward me, but I refused to even look in his direction.

But he cut me off once more with a shake of his head and a grateful smile plastered on his face. "No, absolutely. This merits something quite special." He patted Arthur's shoulder as he let go of my hand. "You will be rewarded with a position in the royal household. You shall be Prince Arthur's personal servant."

My jaw dropped. _What_? What kind of reward was this? I just saved his damn life after vowing to never speak to him ever again, and now I had to wait on him hand and foot?

Not bloody likely!

But I couldn't exactly say anything to the King, which annoyed the hell out of me. Why should I be stuck serving the prat? Couldn't he do _anything_ for himself?

Arthur, apparently, wasn't too happy with the arrangement either, as he just called out, "Father!" in protest, but Uther ignored him in favour of the court applauding to the announcement.

I finally forced myself to look at Arthur. If I had to serve him every day for the rest of my life, it would be hard to do so if I couldn't even look at him. The look on his face was a mix of surprise and disgust-not that that wasn't the look on my face, either.

To my surprise, he grabbed my arm and led me off to the side. "Why didn't you _tell_ me you were a woman?!" He nearly hissed.

I gently lifted a shoulder. "You didn't ask?" I offered.

I groaned in frustration as he covered his face. "If you had told me I wouldn't have treated you like that."

"This isn't really the time to be discussing this, _sire_," I said in the same tone as him. "Not with your 'adoring fans'." I gestured to the entire court who were all settling down and a few of them looked interested in what we were discussing.

Arthur, realizing I was right, just pointed a finger in my face. "This discussion isn't over," He said as he went back to sit with his father.

"No, but my life and happiness is," I grumbled to myself as I crossed my arms.

* * *

I felt much better once I was out of the dress and back into my tunic, breeches, and trusty scarf. I was sitting in my bedroom, staring into a single candle as I tucked my knees under my chin.

I couldn't believe it. The one person that I despised the most was the one person that I had to see every day. I had to follow him around, I had to clean his chambers, do his laundry. I knew I wanted paid work, but this wasn't what I had in mind.

And how did this tie in with my destiny? I still didn't believe in coincidences, but what were the odds that I just _happened _to end up in Camelot, and then _happened _to save the prince's-who's life I was supposed to protect-life and end up in a position where I had to be with him twenty four hours a day, seven days a week (if a week had eight days I could guarantee you Arthur would make me work that extra day) so any danger that came to him, I'd be able to protect him?

It _still_ wasn't a fair reward. Why couldn't Uther just give me a small sack of gold coins and be done with it, like a normal person?

"Seems you're a hero," Gaius interrupted my train of thought, and I literally jerked in my spot, snapping out of my trance.

"Seems like it," I muttered. "I can't even believe it myself."

"No, I knew it from the moment I met you," Gaius said, which made me smile, despite my new circumstances. "You saved my life, remember."

"Yeah, but wasn't that magic?" I asked. "What happened to 'magic must be studied and mastered'?" I said in a bad imitation of Gaius.

That earned me a playful whack from Gaius with a book in his hands. "At least now it seems we've finally found a use for it."

"And that means?" I pressed.

"I saw how you saved Arthur's life," Gaius said, and I had to try not to roll my eyes.

"Don't remind me," I said as I leaned back in my chair. "I'm regretting it with every passing second."

Gaius gave me a look as he said, "Perhaps that's its purpose."

I thought back to the Dragon's-did he have a name?-words. "Perhaps it is my destiny," I said a little bitterly. My blasted destiny.

Gaius, however, didn't note the sarcasm as he said, "Indeed." He held out the book to me. "This book was given to me when I was your age, but I've a feeling it will be of more use to you than it was to me."

I stood up and took the book from his hands. I unravelled the red cloth on it to reveal a brown leather bound book. I undid the clasps and opened it. I began flipping through the pages, which were all covered in Old English terms that I quickly identified to be spells and even some pictures of magical creatures.

"But this is a book filled with magic," I said, a little confused. "What happened to magic being banned?"

"That is the exact reason that you must keep it hidden," Gaius said, a slight mischievous look on his face.

I broke out into a huge, excited smile. "I will memorize every word!" I promised gleefully as I gave the old man a one armed hug.

There was a knock at the door in the main chamber, and it opened. "Merlin, Prince Arthur wants you right away," A guard called out.

I couldn't help but growl at just the mention of his name. No doubt he wanted to talk about what happened when we fought. Or about how I saved his life. Or maybe he wanted to give me chores to do...

I shuddered at the mere though.

"Your destiny's calling," Gaius teased. "You'd better find out what he wants."

And although I shut the book and crammed it under my bed very angrily, I couldn't help the tiny skip in my step as I left Gaius's-_my_ chambers. I finally knew what my magic was for. I finally had a real reason to live.

Even if it _was_ to protect Prince Prat.

I was about to leave my room when something caught my eye in the corner of my room. I quickly ran over to it, scooped it up and went back into the main chambers where the fireplace was. After checking to make sure that the coast was clear, I used my magic to light a fire. Gaius walked down from my room and frowned at the sight of the fire.

"What are you doing?" He asked

I sighed. "This," I answered, and I threw my old hat into the fire. I sighed again quietly as I watched the flames consume the material. That hat started all my problems with Arthur and now we were stuck with each other. It wasn't really the hat's fault, but it just made things worst.

I could feel Gaius's gaze on me, and I looked over to see a worried expression on his face. I lifted a shoulder slightly in a shrug.

"It was an ugly hat, anyway."

* * *

**TBC...**

**Woo hoo! Finished!**

**I'm actually so proud of myself because this is long as hell!**

**Nothing else much to say except hopefully next chapter up soon! **

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